Stefan Mileschin

The FBI has arrested the owner of Phantom Secure as part of a complex law enforcement operation clamping down on the trade in security hardened blackberries to criminals.

According to Motherboard which granted the sources in this story anonymity to talk about sensitive developments in the secure phone trade. The source said the Phantom operation was carried out in partnership with Canadian and Australian authorities.

A complaint filed in the Southern District of California on Thursday charges Vincent Ramos, the founder and CEO of Canada-based Phantom, with racketeering conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs, as well as conspiracy to distribute narcotics, and aiding and abetting. The complaint alleges that Ramos and Phantom were not simply incidental to a crime, like Apple might be when a criminal uses an iPhone, but that the company was specifically created to facilitate criminal activity.

FBI Special Agent Nicholas Cheviron, alleges that even members of the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel used Phantom’s devices, and that the “upper echelon members” of transnational criminal groups have bought Phantom phones. The devices have been flogged in Mexico, Cuba, and Venezuela, as well as to the Hells Angels. Cheviron estimates that 20,000 Phantom devices are in use worldwide, with around half of those in Australia, bringing in tens of millions of dollars of revenue to Phantom.

In addition to removing the microphone and camera from BlackBerry devices, Phantom also takes out GPS navigation, internet browsing, and normal messenger services,. Phantom then installs Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) software to send encrypted messages, and routes these messages through overseas servers. The complaint points to Hong Kong and Panama as countries “believed by Phantom to be uncooperative with law enforcement”. Phantom can also remotely wipe devices if they are seized by authorities.

https://fudzilla.com/news/mobile/457...om-secure-boss